31 Days Of Blavod: Black Cat Jello Shots

I was just cataloging my 31 days of Blavod files and realized that it only added up to 30 days, I suddenly figured out that I had forgotten to include the other black jello shot recipe in the list--shame on me!!  So here it is.  It's raspberry--a personal favorite of mine!  Save the best for last.

Black Cat Jello Shots!

1 cup boiling water

1 3 oz. sized package of raspberry jello

1/4 cup ice cold water

1/2 cup Blavod

1/4 cup Chambord liqueur

1.  Dissolve the jello in the boiling water, stir until completely dissolved.  Add the cold water and stir.  Then add in the vodka and the liqueur and stir again.  Allow to cool fully to room temperature, then pour into jello shot molds.  Refrigerate overnight.  That's easy!!

31 Days Of Blavod: The Dark And Dirty

This is really my favorite way of enjoying Blavod,  it's a black take on the traditional dirty vodka martini--I just sort of made it up.

THE DARK AND DIRTY

2 oz. Blavod

1 tbsp. Black olive juice (I like Kalamata olives)

Black olives for garnish (again Kalamata)

Small splash dry vermouth (optional)

Chilled martini glass

Fill cocktail shaker with ice, add in the Blavod and black olive juice, splash in a little dry vermouth if using.  Cover and shake until the shaker gets really, really cold.  Strain into chilled martini glass and garnish with at least two of the black olives (I like lots of olives!).

31 Days Of Blavod: The Black Lagoon

THE BLACK LAGOON

The original to this is combined with a rosemary-lemon syrup, other variation have popped up with mint & lime--so use whatever herb and citrus combo (or herb and any fruit combo).  The syrup can be made either by infusing herbs in sugar water syrup at low temperatures on the stove, or infusing the herbs and citrus peels in already prepared sugar syrup in the fridge.

2 ounces of the herb-fruit syrup

4 ounces Blavod

2 tsp. fresh citrus juice (lemon or lime is best)

Combine these in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Pour into two glasses filled with ice and top with soda.  Alternatively you can strain into four glasses with one or two ice cubes and serve as "straight" drink.

31 Days Of Blavod: The Original Orange Black Cloud Cocktail

  Courtesy of the Food Network. This is a nice Halloween cocktail from Sandra Lee of the Food Network  and it's pretty easy to make.  It's perfect for those of us that like orange cocktails!

The Original Black Cloud Cocktail

1/2 cup orange soda

1 cup orange juice

1 shot orange liqueur (a regular Orange Curacao or even Triple sec works)

2 shot Blavod
2 black and white peppermint sticks 
2 black licorice rounds


1.  In a pitcher combine the orange juice with the orange soda and the orange liqueur.  Stir well.


2.  Divide these evenly between two martini glasses.  Gently float the Blavod on top, garnish with the candy stick and licorice round if you like, but I've seen these made without the garnish--they do make it look more like a Halloween drink.  Also there are some specialty candy stores that you can order black licorice spiders from.

31 Days Of Blavod 28: Black And White Soda

Blavod and Soda

This not a drink that I made up, but rather one that someone else out there did (don't have the name).  It looks a lot bigger version of the blavod and tonic that I mixed up, only bigger.  It's easy to make, as to flavor, can't comment on that since I've never had it.  

1 tall cocktail glass

Ice

Ice cold club soda

Blavod

Fill glass 1/3 the way up with ice.  Pour in cold club soda 2/3 of the way up the glass, pour Blavod over the back of a spoon to float on top.  Provide a straw so the drink can be mixed.

31 Days of Blavod 26: Halloween's Own Black Cloud Cocktail

Love the plastic martini "glasses" with hollow stem!

This is another one of those "floaty" cocktails.  The Blavod has to float on the top of an orange soda affair.  t is also not the original Black Cloud cocktail, which is a soda water drink.

For an individual drinking

1/2 oz Cointreau or other orange liqueur  (just not blue!)

Cocktail shaker with ice

1 oz Blavod

Orange soda

Mix the orange liqueur in the cocktail shaker, shake hard.  Mix in the orange soda and shake again.  Pour into cocktail glass and float Blavod on top.  Garnish with whatever spooky stuff you like.

31 Days of Blavod 25: The Vampires Kiss

OK, we knew at some point that the Jell-O shot, Halloween and Blavod had to collide sometime this month!  Well here it is.  Well...here one is.  I happen to really like black cherry flavor, so this is worth the highlight. Found on the super cool or super weird site (depending on how you feel about Jell-O and shots!) Jellatio.


8 oz. water
One small (3 oz.) package of black cherry Jell-O
5 oz. Blavod
3 oz. fresh, or any source blood orange juice or fresh naval orange juice


1.  Bring water to boil.


2.  In mixing bowl, sprinkle in the Jell-O and then pour in the hot water.  Stir to dissolve completely and allow to cool to room temp.


3.  When Jell-O is cool, add the Blavod and the orange juice.  (My Note:  Stir Well!  Blavod, loves to float!), pour into little cups or special Jello Shot molds (plastic test tubes work well!).

31 Days Of Blavod: The Black Heart

2 oz. Blavod
3 dashes of your favorite bitters, I like Peyshaud's 
Favorite ginger all to top
Blood orange (or regular orange) wedge to garnish


Fill a tall cocktail glass with ice, add the Blavod and then the bitters, how much really is up to you--the bitters that I like have an orange/cherry flavor.  Give this a stir and top with ginger ale.  Garnish with blood orange wedge.


This drink, unfortunately doesn't work as a layered drink that will feature the black color really well before mixing, but it does have a nice spooky look anyway.  The blood orange doesn't hurt, but regular orange works, and squeezing it into the drink makes it taste nice.

31 Day Of Blavod: Black Vodka And Coke Libre

I'm not really sure if I entirely understand the idea of using Blavod in coke, since coke is already dark and I can't see that the Blavod would make it any darker.  The lime is what makes it a "libre," from the Cuba Libre, which is just rum and coke, plus lime.  Since the vodka has such a neutral flavor, I think the lime sounds like a good idea, to give it more flavor.  I have to say though,  being from Florida, I'm not sure how I feel about putting anything other than good rum in my coke....


1 tail cocktail glass
Ice 
2 oz. Blavod
Coke to top
Fresh Lime to flavor
Lime wedge to garnish


Fill the glass with ice and pour in the Blavod, squeeze in some fresh lime and stir.  Fill the rest of the glass with coke and garnish with the lime wedge.

31 Day Of Blavod 22: The Black Vodka Ghost Martini

BLACK VODKA GHOST MARTINI

Per individual drink:

1/3 part Blavod Black Vodka

1/3 part Chambord

1/3 part Cranberry juice

Club Soda

1 Blackberry

Dry Ice Pellet (otherwise it wouldn't be ghostly) 

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice 1/2 way up.  Pour in the first 3 ingredients, and shake vigorously, strain into a a cocktail glass.  Top off with some club soda and garnish with a skewered blackberry.  Finally drop in a dry ice pellet.

31 Days Of Blavod: Black Vodka Tonic

I actually prefer a Vodka Tonic over the classic Gin and Tonic.  Blasphemous I know, but it's true; so I decided to give the black stuff a try instead of the regular clear stuff.  It came out well.  I would be a really, really easy way to serve cocktails at a Halloween party, because it floats so nicely on the tonic and lime mixture, by also look really cool when it's all mixed up as well!  You cannot say that about the Screwed Up Screw Driver, it looks rather alarming when mixed!  I used a home grown lime and it was tasty!


1 short cocktail glass filled with ice
juice of 1/3 of a lime, drop squeezed peel in glass
Tonic water
Blavod
1 Lime round for garnish

Squeeze the lime over the ice, drop in peel and muddle a bit.  Top with tonic to come 2/3 rds of the way up the glass.  Pour the vodka over the back of a spoon, it will float.  Garnish with lime round on side of glass so the drinker can stir up the drink and add more lime.

This is what it looks like when mixed

31 Days Of Blavod: The Boris Karloff Black And White

There are a surprising number of "Milk And" cocktails out there.  The preferably "Scotch and Milk" as gross as it sounds, was a very popular hang-over remedy back in the day...and what better way to chase off that hang-over by simply getting knackered all over again....  The Sombrero is still a popular tall cocktail of milk and coffee liqueur or coffee flavored brandy.  There is even a strange affair called "The Gin Trick;"  which is nothing by Gin and Milk!  So a black vodka and milk seems fitting.  I'm naming it after Boris Karloff, just for the hell of it.  I am currently watching a Karloff movie!

The Boris Karloff Black And White Shooter

Whole milk (otherwise the vodka won't float), really cold

Blavod, well chilled

In a clear shot, pour in the cold milk.  Pour the Blavod over a back of a spoon to float it on top.  Simple as that.  I did make one of these a couple nights back, and really it's pretty good if you are into cocktails with dairy.

31 Days Of Blavod 20: The Venue Martini

The Venue Martini

This another floating affair.

1 oz midori

2 oz. sweet and sour mix (any liquor store has this)

1/2 oz Chambord

Blavod

Fill cocktail shaker with ice and add the midori and sweet and sour mix.  Shake until frozen.  Strain into cocktail glass, gently pour in the Chambord, which should sink to the bottom, then float blavod on top, to make a 3 layered "martini."

31 Days of Blavod 19: The Black Vodka Mojito

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am what some would call a "purist" when it comes to Mojitos (others might use words like "anal" or worse!).  OK...I'm from Florida, I pretty much frown on Mojitos made from anything other than a good silver rum, I grew Cubano Taino mint....shit, I even grow my own limes (seriously).  But I'm willing to loosen up a bit for Halloween--I mean it is the greatest holiday of the year!!


3 oz. Blavod
Fresh mint
Juice from 1 lime
Fresh club soda
1/2 oz simple syrup (sugar water)
Lime to garnish


Place the mint in the bottom of the glass, and muddle well.  Add the simple syrup and lime juice; muddle again.  Add ice and pour in the vodka, give it a quick stir and top with club soda.  Garnish with lime and more mint, if liked


Variations include omitting the mint (a real no-no for me) and using only lime or (god forbid) lemon.


Green or white creme de menthe is also sometimes used.

31 Days Of Blav: The Mellenini Tall, Dark, and Dirty

Mellenini: Day 194: Tall, Dark, and Dirty: Today I invented a drink because I wanted a dirty martini after my interview. But a dirty martini is nothing new, so I had to make it new. I...

Check this out! It's a great looking Blavod drink that I stumbled across this evening. LOVE the spooky green glow of the olives!  Awesome.

31 Days Of Blav 17: Blav and White Shooter(s)

Again with the Internet trouble last night, but black and white post for the 31 Days of Blav didn't get posted.  Blavod black and white shooters are easy to make.  The most well known is shown above, it's popular Christmas Slippery Santa, but for true black and white, just the sweetened whip cream is all that's needed, unless you feel compelled to put on a piece of black licorice or black jelly bean on top.

These are based on a simple ratio:

1 oz. Blavod

1/2 oz favorite clear schnapps--whatever you like.

Mix in shot glass and top with whip cream.

31 Day Of Blavod 16: The Bloody Sunday

The amounts given for this are for punch, but they can easily be adjusted down for an individual cocktail.  This makes a great Halloween punch for a crowd though!!

Bloody Sunday Halloween Punch

16 oz. Blavod

8 oz. limon rum

8 oz. Velvet Falernum or Almond Syrup

25 oz. sparkling pomegranate juice

1 1/2 to 2 oz. absinthe or absinthe substitute

Mix all ingredient in a large bowl.  Serve chilled in a punch bowl.  Place an ice bucket near by; the punch is served over ice.  If you can't find the sparkling juice, use 18 oz of regular pomegranate juice to 7 oz of club soda.

31 Days Of Blavod: The Black Imp

This is a black and black shooter.  In a way, it's the ultimate Halloween drink.  NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!

1 to 2 oz Blavod 

1 to 2 oz. Black Sambuca

Mix any way you like.  Room temp. and layered.  Stirred.  Over the rocks.  Shaken (or stirred....) over ice and strained.  It's very dark and flavor intense.  Note:  for anyone who hasn't had sambuca, it is an anise flavor, meaning it has a licorice flavor.

31 Days Of Blavod: The Headless Horseman

The Headless Horseman Cocktail

1 highball glass

2 oz. Blavod

3 dashes of your favorite bitters

Ginger Ale 

Fill highball glass with ice (or use the above pictured Collins glass, if you really like ginger ale).

Pour in the blavod and bitters, mix.  Top with ginger ale.  Garnish with whatever you think is spooky.  Above a blood orange wedge is pictured.  One Halloween trick is to freeze olives in ice cubes, then let melt a bit--add to drinks, instant eyeballs.

31 Days Of Blavod 13: Black & Gold

The Black and Gold

2 oz. Blavod

1 oz. Goldschlager

1 cocktail shaker with ice

1 chilled cocktail glass

Add the 2 oz. of Blavod to shaker filled with ice.  Shake until frozen filling comes up on the shaker.  Strain into glass and pour in the Goldschlager.  Garnish if you like.  This is a pretty cocktail!  Though it might not be to every one's taste.